Maintaining a living mulched soil is essential for the well-being of plants (vegetables from the vegetable garden or ornamental plants)! To produce this mulch and at the same time reduce green or brown waste, a plant shredder is an almost essential garden accessory.

A plant destroyer makes it possible to produce RCW

With a plant shredder, we produce Shredded Ramial Wood (BRF), i.e. a shredded product consisting of a mixture of wood chips and shredded leaves. It can be used to feed the compost pile or as mulch in the vegetable garden.

In this case, the goal for the gardener is to mimic humus soils, which are both soft and humus-rich (thus fertile). So the idea is to create a permanent ground cover that will come to stimulate the abundance of life.

Which type of grinder is the most efficient?

Blade mill disc © Jardipartage

2 types of plant shredders share the market:

• The first is the banker rotor. At an affordable price, it cuts the pieces very coarsely (1 to 2 cm). The result is random and the decay of this ground material is long.
• The second is the banker blade. It is a bit more expensive but it is much more effective. Two knives are carried by a disc that rotates at high speed and at 45° to the vertical. The wood introduced through the pipeline is thus bevelled. The chips obtained at the output are very thin (a few millimeters thick). Regular sharpening of knives (very important) makes it possible to maintain a clean and quality cut.
  For a small garden, an electric model is enough, quiet and saving space. A heat engine machine is more suitable for large spaces and thick branches.

Keep the soil fresh and fertile

Le BRF produced from shredded plants keeps the soil fresh and offers a significant amount of material to decompose. It is then a food source that attracts fungi, bacteria, small organisms (such as mites or tails) and earthworms in the soil.

Reduce and recycle your waste with a plant shredder

No more vehicles in the city dump. You save time and have complete control over your green waste management.

In an age where everything (or almost everything) is recycled, pruning waste remains in the garden and is valued in the form of mulch. Covered plants are fed naturally, watering and weeding are reduced. A good shredder also provides quality raw material for making compost.

What wood to use for RCW production?

The chopped material is taken from young branches of living bushes, with a maximum diameter of 4 cm. The still-tender bark contains many nutrients, including lignin. The presence of the latter is fundamental because only fungi are able to digest it. This is how a food chain begins.

All pruning residues from shrubs in the garden can be used, taking care, however, to avoid an excessive concentration of resinous species that make the soil acidic. It is possible to supplement it with species that are available in the immediate vicinity and that regenerate quickly: hazelnut especially but also chestnut or anchovy.

nitrogen starvation

Do not cover the legs of a shrub with its own shredded material. Instead, vary and mix the shredded material.

nitrogen starvation occurs in the initial stages when fungi develop. They need nitrogen for that which they draw from the soil. Plants may then be deprived of it. The balance is then restored when the microfauna feed on the mycelia of these fungi and then restore the sequestered nitrogen in the soil.

nitrogen starvation leads some gardeners to say that it is best to compost the RCW for a while before using it. Others, on the contrary, believe that a quick introduction after pruning allows you to take full advantage of all its nutritional properties.

To read about the same topic:

➥ How to use RCW at the base of fruit trees?
➥ Black tarp in the vegetable garden: can it be used for mulch?